U-2 spy plane flying at 60,000 triggered air traffic control shutdown

Computers shut down trying to keep U-2 from colliding with planes miles below.

The software glitch that affected hundreds of US flights last week was prompted by a U-2 spy plane flying miles above the Los Angeles basin.

NBC News, citing anonymous sources, said the plane—older versions of which once flew spy missions over Russia five decades ago—was traveling at some 60,000 feet when it hit airspace near Los Angeles. Air traffic control computers at the LA Air Route Traffic Control Center in Palmdale, CA were trying to prevent the craft from crashing into planes that were flying miles below.

The Federal Aviation Administration's ongoing $40 billion traffic-control upgrade shut itself down before the program fried.

"FAA technical specialists resolved the specific issue that triggered the problem on Wednesday, and the FAA has put in place mitigation measures as engineers complete development of software changes," aviation officials said in a statement. "The FAA will fully analyze the event to resolve any underlying issues that contributed to the incident and prevent a reoccurrence."

As many as 500 flights in and out of Los Angeles International Airport were halted for about an hour Wednesday as officials investigated the glitch within a component of the En Route Automation Modernization system built by Lockheed Martin Corp.

Nearby Edwards Air Force Base has been known to house the U-2. The US Air Force has a fleet of nearly three dozen U-2 crafts built in the 1980s.

David Kravets / The senior editor for Ars Technica. Founder of TYDN fake news site. Technologist. Political scientist. Humorist. Dad of two boys. Been doing journalism for so long I remember manual typewriters with real paper.